


Sweet dreams are made of this

by theotherella



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: (All the space except the personal kind), Alternate Universe - Space, Cuddling & Snuggling, Huddling For Warmth, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Space Flight, Space Pirates, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:27:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22432591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theotherella/pseuds/theotherella
Summary: They have a long and complex history. Neither of them wants it to be anything more than that. But then, on one joint mission, the heater on their ship is knocked out, and they're forced very close indeed.
Relationships: Deceit Sanders/Sleep | Remy Sanders
Comments: 16
Kudos: 47





	Sweet dreams are made of this

**Author's Note:**

> Edited and with summary by the wonderful Marinia!

In an isolated expanse of space many light-years away, all is silent and cold. A mere buzzing, as if of gnats, is suggested more than actually heard in the freezing vacuum. Three ships are flying very quickly through a comet formation. Two are quiet, not even humming with machinery, deathly and still. They hunt the third with deadly precision. And in the third-

“Right! More right! Go-”

“Can you give me an actual direction- nearer the T-16 system or that-”

“Gurl, we ain’t taking the Polar Express to the North Pole-”

“Ssssshut up!”

“Near that rock, near the rock-”

“They’re all bloody rocks!”

A human in sunglasses swung his seat around to fire at the ships chasing. He replied in fluent Common, though he kept the cadence of an American teenager to it. “In and out, they said. Like, this wasn’t easy. I broke a nail picking the locks-”

“Oh, because human nails never grow back.” What we would describe as a humanoid snake sat in the pilot’s seat; he would describe the human as a mammal-like Serpentis who’d lost his scales.

“Every time we work together something goes wrong-”

“But you just keep coming back for more, don’t you, darling?”

“Calm down, babe, I’ll get us out of this one again.”

“Just like in Andromeda?”

“Shut up about Andromeda already! We-”

Something shook the ship. They quietened for a moment before the human spoke up again. “If my precious Britney Spears has been damaged-”

“Ssssssss,” the Serpentis hissed.

“Fuck you too!” the human replied in English.

The Serpentis flipped a switch. “I’m taking it into warp-drive. Keep them off our tail.”

“Get off my tail-” the human grumbled before shooting several lasers in rapid succession behind them.

“What? What does that even mean?”

The human had already lost interest, absorbing himself in shooting and flipping from Common to some human tongue. “Fuck you, robot! Fuck the federation! Fucking-”

The Serpentis focused on flying as the human picked off their enemies, shooting them into safety.

* * *

Remy sighed, rubbing his eyes under his sunglasses. “Thank fuck that’s over. I’m going to rest for a bit, don’t fuck everything up while I’m gone.”

“Since you asked so delightfully.” Dee yawned, revealing gleaming white fangs. “I’m taking us closer to a star, get some light…”

“No way.”

“What?”

“Do you think after stealing a gem that big going into civilised areas is a good ideal? Do you? Do you really?”

“Get your fangs out of the wood-block and relax.”

Remy responded as he usually did to space idioms, insults, or words he wasn’t too sure of: “‘Fuck you’, Dee.”

“I’m merely observing that you should calm down,” Dee said tersely. “Especially since your reckless behaviour was what triggered the guards-”

“You’re attacking me for a little mistake like-”

“You always do sssstupid-”

“Don’t hiss at me-”

“At least I ssspeak Common without human slang-”

Remy’s expression closed off. “Fuck. You.” He spoke in a monotone, his usual phrase delivered with the hardness it originated with.

“Is that all you can say?” Dee spoke calmly but his hands were still slightly shaking with adrenaline, so he tightened them on the wheel.

A passive-aggressive smile crossed Remy’s face. “I can say what I like on my ship, can’t I? And whose ship is this?”

“We almost got caught back there. You’re reckless, your ship is a pile of junk, and I wouldn’t work with you if I didn’t have to. Get to sleep, and don’t tell me where to fly your ship if I’m in the pilot’s seat. We’ll wait for 300, then I’ll start taking us down to trade. As soon as we sell that gem I’m out of here.”

Remy turned his back, standing in the doorway with one hand rested against his ship. “Have fun hitchhiking with your face plastered all over the Fed’s channels.”

Dee didn’t deign that with a response.

After a moment, he heard Remy leave. His tongue flickered between his teeth in irritation as he got up to adjust the thermostat. Not having the controls on the wheel, as they would be on any Serpentis ship, was yet another design flaw with Britney Spears.

He turned it all the way up, much hotter than Remy liked (honestly, he was like a grandpa with his fuel use for warmth) and got back to his seat.

About ten minutes later, he began to feel himself become drowsy, so he dragged himself back up to go and check on the main heater. Worry curled at the back of his mind, the memory of the crash- but he was sure it was nothing.

It was not, in fact, nothing. The whole system was fritzed. Dee held the back of his hand to the cylinder, but he only felt fading warmth, like a rock left in the sun. “Szzzzzzzzkssssss*.”

(*this is not translated for the sake of politeness)

He could’ve probably dealt with a standard issue ship, but Britney Spears wasn’t standard issue, it was a glorified bucket. He considered asking Remy for help, running over the cadences of ‘your piece of shit ship is broken’, but decided he could most likely deal with it himself.

He was just really, really tired. He wouldn’t give Remy the satisfaction of seeing him so out of it. He went down to the engine room to see if he could soak up some heat there.

Stumbling down the steps, the residual heat from the engines washing over him hardly helped. Trust Remy to only insulate his engines, prioritising speed of getaway over any type of comfort.

Dee slumped down to sit leaning his back against the silvery foam, head lolling back behind him to hit it too. Just…a few moments and he’d get up and get the useless human. Just a few moments.

* * *

Remy woke up from his sleep because of the cold. He screwed up his face and scrunched up his body under his blanket, turning over. Tucking the thin fleece under his feet, he began to drift again despite a slight shiver, grateful for the warmth provided by the material.

Wait, that was- and he wasn’t that happy about it- one of the thinnest blankets on the ship, the thinnest, in fact. He had it because the Serpentis liked the ship warm-

His eyes snapped open. This was much, much too cold for Dee.

He kicked the blanket off and pulled his leather jacket back on, puffing out some air from his mouth experimentally. He could only just about discern it, so it wasn’t as bad as it could be. Dee wouldn’t let the temperature drop this low- Remy’s mind jumped to the worst case scenario- intruders of some sort. It was unlikely, but he hadn’t gotten this far by not knowing when to rein in his recklessness- no, ma’am!

He reached for his laser-shooter and toed his shoes off so he could move quietly through the ship. Padding through to the engine room, he found the pilot seat empty- and the thermostat turned fully up. “Use up my fuel why don’t you-” he complained under his breath.

Then to the heater: broken. Crap.

The generators were up, and the engine was still running, but he’d have to check the back of the ship. Worr- curiosity about Dee was also beginning to build.

Holding his laser-shooter out in front of him, he headed down to the engine room.

Dee was slumped by the insulation. His eyes were open, but sightless.

Remy felt a lot of things, but he focused on that, sliding the sunglasses off his own head and gently sliding them over Dee’s. “Don’t like that. Eyelids, please.”

He tilted his head and looked at Dee’s chest slowly rising and falling in sleep. The sunglasses made it look worse, somehow, as if this was something Remy had done to make fun of him. As if this was all his fault.

Remy shrugged his leather jacket off with a shiver, tucking it over Dee’s body. “Probably the coolest he’s ever looked in his life-” His undercurrent of humour didn’t even convince himself, but speaking meant one thought at one time and some kind of plan instead of the silence from the other thief.

“Crap, blanket, should I run and- don’t want to leave him- he’s not going to move, let’s get the-”

His feet pounded up the stairs. He pulled the thickest blanket from the drawer under his bunk, a thick Saeranian quilt from a museum somewhere on Nemos, and ran back down to cocoon Dee in it.

Remy went back a few paces. He sat on his haunches, watching Dee. He had never liked waiting.

“Wake up. Come on. That quilt it’s, like…a queen wove it for her husband, or something. That has queen hands on it. You’re not a king, you’re a reprobate… It’s really expensive- maybe you could sell it when we touch down?- I want to get new supplies- maybe some new Nemorian music. If they’re not still, like, pissed about me stealing the quilt, but they stole it first- embarrassing, tbh. Do you think if I return it to Saeran, I’ll get, like, a medal? Nah, the Fed reaches there too, but…maybe I’ll find some human music. It’s not so far from the Milky Way. A few months…” He popped to his feet, beginning to pace. “Ok, sleeping beauty, I’m not kissing you, so you better start waking up. Or I’m going to start singing."

When he did, his voice wobbled.

"Maybe I could put some insulation around you-” Remy paused. “Crap, crap, holy fuck! The insulation keeps in the warm, he ain’t making the warm!”

He ran his hand through his hair, looking around the room. As if there was something a handy heat source there. Well, he wasn’t warm, he was fucking freezing in his T-shirt. But, Remy guessed, since he wasn’t unconscious yet…

Gingerly, he slid the sunglasses off Dee. He bit his lip, considering the options- “I’m taking my shirt off,” which he did, “you lucky bitch. And my jacket. You keep your shirt, or whatever.”

“I don’t want to be clingy-” he began to untuck the quilt from the other thief, then sat down by Dee. “But I’m going to-” He scooted up, scrunching his nose up at the feeling of cold scales against his skin, then tucked the quilt back around them.

“And, uh-” he tucked an arm around Dee, pulling the Serpentis in front of his chest. “I should take your shirt off, but the 'dinner first’ rule doesn’t apply when the last dinner you bought me was too spicy for humans.”

Entangling their legs for maximum skin-to-skin contact, Remy tucked his chin over the quilt, rested his head on Dee’s shoulder, and focused on being as warm as possible.

* * *

Dee woke up to a fragile warmth, like a hesitant sunrise over the deep cold of the desert night. His heartbeat was slow, but consistent. The numbness receded from his fingers. Sleepy, but awake; vulnerable, but safe.

Then he realised that his vision was dimmed. And that something was over his face. “Wha'ssss happening?”

“Uh,” a quiet voice came from under his chin. “So, don’t freak, but you were like, dying. And I had to make sure you didn’t fucking die. So, here we are.”

Dee tried to move his toes a little, before realising there was a weight over his legs, and an arm on his chest- and something warm behind him- What-

He pulled the sunglasses off to see a very shirtless, very close Remy cuddled against his chest. There was also a blanket. “Are you…” he said with as much dignity as he could in his semi-somnolent state, “cuddling me?”

Remy gave an awkward, obviously fake laugh. “And what about it?”

Dee was too tired to think through that. He tucked the sunglasses back onto Remy’s head. “Not…sssstill mad?”

“Babe, I’m not mad enough to kill you. Like, if I wanted to kill you, I’d shoot you and dump you out the airlock, not leave you here to pollute Britney.” Remy shrugged, and the sensation of his muscles shifting next to Dee’s skin sent a shiver down his spine. “Even if you did insult her.”

“It’s a ship,” Dee said, subdued still, “Not a person.”

“She’s a she-” Remy bit back the ‘fuck you’ on his tongue. “Bitch.”

Dee hissed a little laugh, like steam leaking out of an engine.

“Are you feeling warm enough now?” Remy asked. “Because we have repairs to do.”

Dee shook his head, tucking his head against Remy’s chest. “Sleepy. Tired. I forgot the Common word for a moment.”

Remy’s laugh shook through his chest. “Don’t try and hide it. Man, I’m never going to let you live this down.”

Dee tensed up slightly. “What, taking my shirt off and getting cuddly with an unconscious bounty hunter, wrapped in a priceless quilt I’m too dumb to know the worth of? Or flying a bucket so bad she doesn’t have backup heaters?”

“I’d say you look cuter when you’re asleep, but you do look like a corpse. I wish I had a photo-”

“What, because I don’t have those creepy skin-curtains?”

Remy lifted up his sunglasses to wink. “These?”

Dee recoiled. “Simply delightful. Flawless design feature. Never flap just the one of those in my presence again.”

“How else would I flirt?”

Dee fixed a look of disdain on Remy. “That’s how humans flirt? That’s disgusting.”

Remy winked again. “Hey, good-looking,” he said in English. As he slid his sunglasses back on, he wolf-whistled for good measure.

“Yikes. Is that a mating call?”

“Basically. More like 'Ooo, you’re hot’.”

Dee wiggled his neck up to look at him scathingly. “But I am cold.”

“Attractive! Sorry, hot is a word for attractive in my human language.”

“Please stop flirting with me.”

“You’re so cute and sleepy,” Remy said in English.

“’You’ is half of 'fuck you’,” Dee said. “And you once said ‘cute’ at… some pretty bags?”

“Look at 'you’, all smart and shit. 'Nerd’- that means nerd.”

“Szzzzzkssss.”

“Szzzzkzzzz.”

“That’s north, try again. Szzzksssss. It’s a swear.”

“Szzz-k-shhh.”

“Close enough.”

Remy grinned. “I’m so fucking smart.”

“With an intellect like that, you must have picked up Common in no time?”

Remy laughed, but Dee didn’t feel his chest rumble like before.

“Where did you learn it? I heard the human schools tend to be pretty shitty.”

“I practiced.”

Dee paused, shifting closer to Remy. “Where do you come from?”

“Why are you a thief?”

Dee laughed. “I want to take things.”

“I wanted to leave where I was.”

“Why’s your ship called Britney Spears?” Dee asked quietly. “Do you know her?”

Remy laughed. “Know her? I’m her best friend. We’re so tight, Britney and me.”

“I feel like you’re being sarcastic.”

“She’s a singer, babe, a famous singer.”

“Ah.”

They lapsed into silence, breathing slowly syncing as it condensed in the air before them. Remy blew his out like cigarette smoke, but Dee’s wasn’t warm enough to yet. Then Dee shifted. “I’m still not awake enough- I might need to sleep like this, if the autopilot will last long enough.”

Remy checked a watch on his wrist. “Okay. An hour or so, then I’ll start the repairs.”

Dee cuddled back into Remy. He felt he should have said something, but wasn’t sure what was left to say. The human’s eyes closed. As he drifted off, Dee realised there wasn’t much to say about the episode at all, and it would be another silent beat between them, an invisible complication in their already complex relationship. Dee pressed himself to Remy’s chest, and heard his heart speed up, and wondered where he was dreaming of running to.


End file.
